Allotment will help Birmingham families enjoy fruits of their labour

FAMILIES in Aston will soon be able to grow their own fruit and veg after 50 volunteers started work on a community allotment.

FAMILIES in Aston will soon be able to grow their own fruit and veg after 50 volunteers started work on a community allotment.

The volunteers, who work for Capita, Service Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, began transforming the waste land yesterday.

They picked up spades and brought in a digger to clear ground at the back of the South Aston Community Association in Upper Sutton Street.

The association has linked up with the Community, Education, and Training Academy (Ceta) to provide allotments for underprivileged families, who will be able to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

Ceta works with disadvantaged black and ethnic minority communities across the city. Its main client group is women, but it also works with young black men and the long-term unemployed.

Diane Sawyers, employment adviser at the charity, said: “Ceta projects like this have helped to improve the lives of hundreds of people in Newtown, Aston and Handsworth.“The out and about healthy living programme will also help promote awareness about the link between food and healthy lifestyles.

“The project also acts as a platform for social inclusion and community cohesion.

“We are very grateful for the support that Birmingham City Council, Service Birmingham and Capita have given us in getting this initiative off the ground.”

Aston councillor Ayoub Khan, cabinet member for local services and community safety, said: “It’s really good to see all of these organisations working together so closely on this project.

“Aston is a deprived area of the city, but this project will hopefully help to break the vicious circle where parents turn to convenience food because it is cheap.

“This scheme will allow them to grow their own food, it will promote healthy eating, it will help to tackle obesity and it will get residents out in the fresh air at the same time.

“It is especially pleasing to see the hard work, enthusiasm and determination of the volunteers here today and we want to thank them for all of their efforts.”